Since we funded it in 2023<\/a> for people aged six years and above, over 400 people have benefited. We are now proposing to fund Trikafta for more people so it can be used as soon as clinically appropriate, regardless of age.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Maddie]()
Maddie Palmer was worried that something didn’t feel right in her pregnancy, and she gave birth at 35 weeks. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Palmer said her pregnancy with Maya was complicated. At 30 weeks, a scan revealed Maya had a perforated bowel. After developing pre-eclampsia, Palmer was forced to deliver at 35 weeks via an emergency C-section at Christchurch Women\u2019s Hospital. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt robbed of a normal pregnancy. We were told Maya would need multiple surgeries, and our world changed overnight.\u201d <\/p>\n
On September 4, 2024, around 5:30\u202fpm, Maya Ann Alda Palmer was born and attached to multiple wires and life support. She weighed 4.6 pounds. <\/p>\n
![\"Maya]()
Maya Palmer was born prematurely and needed surgery to remove part of her bowel. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
That day, she needed a three-hour operation to remove part of her bowel and create a stoma – a surgical hole in the abdomen to allow the body\u2019s waste to be removed – which was reversed a month later in another surgery. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaya was taken from me straight away. I felt distant – I never got to hold her. She was so small and sick. I desperately wanted to be a mother and was angry at the world. I spent a lot of time asking, \u2018Why me?\u2019\u201d Maddie told the Herald. <\/p>\n
The couple stayed at Ronald McDonald House for three months until Maya was ready to return to their home, Green Island South Dunedin. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel robbed anymore. She needs us, but it has taken a long time to get here. It also took time to feel confident handling her. We are making up for that loss now,\u201d Maddie said. <\/p>\n
![\"When]()
When Maya Palmer was born, she was so sick that her mother was unable to hold her. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Palmer says that while cystic fibrosis doesn\u2019t define her daughter, she is cautious about Maya socialising with other children because she says it\u2019s not worth the risk of getting an infection. <\/p>\n
While the family of three are content living in their bubble, Palmer feels sad when she hears her friends talking about their children going to pre-school. <\/p>\n
![\"Mackenzie]()
Mackenzie Palmer, an Otago Ruby player, is making a tackle. Photo \/ Supplied. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaya is chaotic, loud, and lovable. She\u2019s energetic and outgoing\u2014totally adorable. She\u2019s advanced for her age in mobility and cognitive skills. She loves playing with Wilbur, our Pug and in the Winter, we watch her dad play rugby for Otago. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t socialise often, and we check every visitor to see if they are sick, and have signs on our door, \u2018Help keep Maya safe, please wash your hands,\u2019\u201d Palmer said. <\/p>\n
The toddler follows a strict daily care regime. Medication is sprinkled into her food to help absorption, alongside daily antibiotics and vitamins. <\/p>\n
Twice a day, Maya also needs 20 minutes of chest physiotherapy to prevent mucus from building up in her lungs. <\/p>\n
![\"Maddie]()
Maddie and Mackenzie Palmer got married on a golf course in Queensland in 2022 and Maddie became pregnant with Maya in January 2024. Photo \/ Supplied.<\/p>\n
Palmer, originally from Timaru, met Mackenzie while studying for a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Otago in 2016. She now works part-time in banking, and Mackenzie is an assistant manager at Golf Warehouse. <\/p>\n
The couple married at a golf course in Queensland four years ago, and Palmer became pregnant in 2024. <\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The family is hoping they won’t need to move Maya Palmer to Australia to access the “miracle” drug Trikafta. Photo \/ Supplied. <\/p>\n
The couple would like more children, and want to do it through genetically-tested IVF. \u201cWe\u2019re funded for two rounds in September, when Maddie turns two. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope Maya will be able to access Trikafta here, but if she can\u2019t, we will move to Australia. That means weighing up having another child against relocating for free access to the drug. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a tough decision not to have another child, and I hope I don\u2019t have to make it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Carolyne Meng-Yee<\/a> is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ\u2019s 60 Minutes, 20\/20 and Sunday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maya\u2019s parents were unaware they were both carriers of the disorder – an incurable condition affecting about 500…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[150431,542,9092,85,2511,124,8414,104507,14032,14134,3401,8141,4688,19084,2082,1360,1364,15472,424,1446,150432,6178,2683,2686,111,43,139,69,9629,1523,150429,8466,1361,165,61,150065,53475,2766,150430,25592],"class_list":["post-262823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-17monthold","tag-access","tag-against","tag-australia","tag-child","tag-could","tag-couple","tag-cystic","tag-daughter","tag-decision","tag-drug","tag-extend","tag-fertility","tag-fibrosis","tag-for","tag-having","tag-her","tag-invest","tag-life","tag-making","tag-mayas","tag-mother","tag-move","tag-moving","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-otago","tag-over","tag-prolong","tag-second","tag-that","tag-their","tag-to","tag-toddlers","tag-torn","tag-treatment","tag-trikafta","tag-weighs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}